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Living before God
Ben Campbell Johnson; Eerdmans
Review by Ray Hoekzema
Earlier this year I reviewed another book written by
Johnson (with Glen McDonald) – Imagining a Church in the Spirit. They
stressed that the church is something more than an institution – it is a
community inhabited by the Spirit of the Lord. A dynamic community
depends upon the presence of Christ in ways that are personal and
experiential. In “Living before God”, the author puts the emphasis on
the individual experiencing the reality of living before God.
From the outset, when you begin to read this book, two words/concepts
come to mind – experiential and mystical. Johnson defines living before
God as one of the inescapable realities of our being in this world. He
says that we have no choice about the fact of “being before God”, only
about how we posture ourselves in God’s presence. Johnson writes about
some of the things he has learned, what he calls, ‘to live this great
adventure’.
Johnson, professor of Christian spirituality at Columbia Theological
Seminary, Georgia, has spent a fair bit of time in monasteries for
meditation. He says he drew inspiration from the likes of Saint Teresa
of Avila, Carlo Caretto, Brother Lawrence and throughout the book he
mentions his regular retreats to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit,
seeking spiritual guidance from the abbot.
Johnson also draws on Gregory the First, who was a reforming pope and
who pointed to Mary and Martha sitting at the feet of Jesus as examples
for contemplation. He also refers to, and takes the reader through an
ancient way of meditating on Scripture called Lectio Divina or,
spiritual reading. In the sixth century, it guided the daily prayer life
of the monks under the care of Saint Benedict. Lectio Divina involves a
slow, studied, reflective way of reading a text from the Bible but it
does not automatically produce union with God. This way of encountering
God through Scriptures has four movements, identified by four Latin
words, which translate into read, meditate, pray and contemplate.
Johnson likes to refer to himself as a child of the Reformation.
Some of the postures he discusses are listening for and imagining God in
an ordinary day. He suggests that with some reflection and focused
listening, we will begin to develop the art of imagining the presence of
God in an ordinary way. He also deals with celebrating life in freedom,
and closes with an emphasis on a living before God that requires
stickibility or, the ‘P’ in TULIP – perseverance. The author says that
we can never let down our guard against the powers and principalities,
which are ever set to turn us away from the love of God.
In this connection, the author exposes what he calls, the biggest lie –
to doubt the integrity and veracity of the Creator God. Our forebears
believed the lie, ate the fruit, and suffered the consequences of
alienation from themselves, from each other, and from God. The biggest
lie of the Devil is, “You can’t trust God to be God!” All our
temptations are a variation on a theme – “God cannot be trusted!” We
need to shield our souls from the destructive doubts and take refuge in
God’s mercy, to adopt a posture which changes the contention of the Evil
One into the contemplation of God.
The author also asks some pertinent questions of himself which may be
good for us all to reflect on at some stage. He asks: “I wonder if my
love of God has been too strongly attached to my vocation? (spiritual?)
Do I love God for God’s sake? Or do I love God for my work’s sake? If
so, what happens when I retire? Will my passion for God dry up? These
thoughts may well direct us to count the cost of being a disciple, even
in retirement.
Johnson strongly recommends journaling and adds some journaling
exercises at the end of each chapter. There are some questions for
reflection and discussion as well, and so the book lends itself for
group study also. There is much in this book that engages you and there
is also much one can learn from reading it. Warmly recommended.
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